Thanks Chips. That was quite a sond. And all day, the MSM has been going on and on about the President as to do something now. It’s like there is nobody else on Capital Hill that can write a damned bill on some kind of law for gun safety. I had shopping to do today, so I just got home and came here first. Thank you again. You heal our hearts.

Rep. McCarthy is one of the main one running her mouth, trying to blame the President for their being no gun control law. As someone said she has been in Congress over nine years and what has she got done? She knows those dam Republicans that this President has had to deal with.

These are the same bast*rds who have been attacking PBO for wanting/trying to do the right things for the country and for us since he took office, Roberta, and every step of the way, they have failed by refusing to tell the American people that it’s the republicans who are responsible for the high deficit, the proliferation of guns in our country, our still high unemployment rate, no jobs bill being passed, etc. These cowards have no right to say anything about PBO “doing” anything because whenever he does try to do things, they join with the republicans and make it seem as if he is the problem. They have scapegoated PBO from Day 1. Shortly after Rep. Giffords was shot in AZ, the president penned an op-ed that appeared in one of AZ’s largest newspapers, and the press ignored it. Where were their lazy behinds then? PBO has spoken about gun violence numerous times, and the MSM’s stenographers do what they usually do–they either ignores him, or their networks bring someone from the NRA, the GOP, or some other anti-Obama group on and allows them to make it appear as if the president is being unreasonable. I’m sick of them, and it’s a major reason why I stopped watching any TV “news” program on any network. A majority of them are RW shills, wouldn’t know the truth if it was a bird and pecked both of their eyes out, and are rank, mewling cowards. They invite RW politicians onto their networks to bash PBO, when they should be grilling them about the things they haven’t done. None of the republicans have come out and shown one iota of real concern for the kids who died in CT yesterday, none of them have said anything about the need to reinstitute the ban on assault weapons or mentioned the word gun control, and they won’t because the NRA and other pro-gun lobbying groups have muzzles on their mouths. The MSM’ stenographers have no reason to call on PBO to “do” something that is clearly the responsibility of Congress, and their obvious stupidity is another reason I pay zero attention to them, Roberta.

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((( We love you jovie, and we thank you deeply for your service.)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) and you can get teary eyed all you want if I were there with you, I would personally bring the Kleenex and wipe your tears. Love you jovie141.HZ

LL, I have been crying all day. When I go into my old office space in my home,the tears really flow. Children gave me a beautiful life(and I pray and hope that I did the same for them and their parents) for 36 years full sounds and conversations that were so full of joy that only come from bright little ones with dreams, joy and aspirations for a beautiful life to contribute to their society. So those of us who met them face to face each day have every piece within our souls weeping during this time.

I so appreciate Chips for allowing us to lift each other up along with lifting POB and FLOTUS and his team as he also deals with this awful tragedy. Let us continue to pray for the families, the First Responders and their families, and the entire staff at Sandy Hook ES. May God’s grace be with each little heart and mind, and with all who will participate in the inter-faith service tomorrow.

I have my music and my candles going on at this very moment. I sent some emails to some of my administrators and school board members thanking them for their support, courage, and safety provisions provided for all of us while I was in the district. We just have to grieve in our own ways, and most of all think of millions of teachers, school staff, first responders, mayors, governors, and millions of students who are trying to process all of this. We will do what is right. POB will be given the people who will work with him to do the right thing. That is how I am praying for him in my own little meditational time. God, give POB and VPBiden those you want to work with them to get this done and do it because it is the right thing. ((((((((((((((((((((((((((((( We Love Each Other Here at TOD)))))))))))))))))))))))HZ

This woman is on a crusade or something! I’m starting to wonder if maybe she had an unfortunate experience at aPlanned Parenthood clinic herself as a young woman or teenager. If not her, perhaps a close family member.

Reports from a babysitter hired by the mother to watch Adam Lanza even as a teenager, telling the sitter to not leave the room even for a minute, to not even go to the bathroom and leave him unattended. And still—–with that kind of serious concern—–she obviously allowed him access to her beloved gun collection. She so loved her guns that she even proudly showed off her newest acquisition—a new rifle of some sort—possibly the bushmaster used in the killings—- to a landscaper who was putting up her outside xmas lights. Tragic consequences to this sick passion.

The sitter was an enabler in this situation. All the people now coming out of the woodwork with anecdotes after 20 young children are dead – why didn’t you say something back then? Even if it meant possibly losing the friendship of that woman? When someone’s behavior is so disturbing – and a teenager who can’t be left alone “for a minute” fits that criteria – why would you keep silent about it?

You cannot the blame the babysitter in this situation. What could she possibly have done? She was but a kid herself. This is not her fault.The deranged murderer who killed those children and adults is primarily at fault.

You’re absolutely right that the murderer is primarily at fault and I think most would agree with you that any other, including the alleged babysitter was not primarily or singularly to blame. In fact that was actually my point – I just didn’t express it as clearly as I should have.

My comment last night was posted out of intense frustration with the typical play out of these events , when we suddenly hear from a slew of characters who claim to have been intimately aware of behavior/mental disturbance of the perpetrator long before the crime occurs. The media (along with the family), in an attempt to deflect blame from the perpetrator and lack of appropriate gun laws, rushes to create a portrait of a mentally disturbed individual who was failed by society and by the mental health system. Then we see the general and predictable trotting out of people who “knew” that the person was ill and can give detailed anecdotes about how ill that person was.

The sad thing, as I point out in my piece, is that most NRA rank and file members are FOR the regulations that the NRA leadership is against. They have to take back that organization. That, or abandon it.

And as I say in my piece, if they sit silently, then blood is on their hands as much as it is on Wayne LaPierre’s. This is when they have to ask themselves: are they for life, or for the culture of the gun. I’m not sanguine; as you said, even 20 dead kids might not be enough. But again, it might. Hope has to live.

20 plus children are murdered everyday somewhere in this country (sometimes in one day in i.e. Chicago) and that has not made a difference/change in anything. But, I do believe a change is going to come…we have to stay strong and keep the faith…and most of all we must not waste time nor energy on the nay sayers. PBO is a leader, a great leader and he will lead those of us who want to be part of the solution (not the problem).

Our hearts are broken today. My prayers and blessing go to the fallen angels and to the 4 brave women who gave up their lives to save
their students. To the teachers that somehow
manage to get their students to a safe place.
To the parents of the angels … No words can
express the way we all feel today and many day’s to come.

Whether we are religious or not, this time of year, a time of the greatest darkness, both of the season and now of horrific events and loss, we celebrate the Light within us and among us. It is my faith that evil and cruelty do not have the last word, innocence and love prevail over death and violence, now and always.

May I please join you, both, if you mean her tweet on Hillary and John Kerry. Otherwise, I agree, anyway. Oh, and fuck her dad for being a turncoat to President Obama, who gave him his most recent ambassadorship in good faith.

I do not like her spirit. She is not one that I find to be of a spirit that speaks of POB’s core beliefs. I do not like seeing her on Rev. Al, and I choose to mute her ,when I hear where she is going with her comments. I refuse to listen to people who have No message to move us FORWARD with POB’s agenda to do great positive things for the country. The ‘backstabbers’ are useless in my space. Abby is not of goodness for or with POB. So I move on.HZ

I had replied to a tweet last night about the little children that apparently hit a nerve with some gun freaks. I was accused of “standing atop 20 little children’s dead bodies to express his opinion.” They thought I was a guy and one of them sent me a graphic, calling me the “P” word, because I had blocked him. Another one called me a “worse” name: “lib.” Ha!

So I informed ’em that “he” was a “she” – a 66-year-old great grandmother who was standing up for her five grandkids and one great grandson, and that I always block people I can’t reason with … and asked how proud their own grandmothers would be of them? Or something like that.

One half apologized, calling me “ma’m.”

Truthfully, I really would like to get in touch with their grandmothers, because they need a little “talking to.” And we all need better gun laws.

Yes, grandmothers have power. Maybe that’s where the gun safety crusade should start…..with grandmothers.
Just about everyone loves their grandmother, or at least speaks of her fondly. Grandmothers might be able to cut through the trash, as it sounds like you did jacqueline.
This horror hit me all over again tonight, when I heard that the children were 6 & 7…..my precious grandson Eric is 6! I canNOT imagine losing him to a gunman. I cried watching the news…..I’m sure we all have.

Such an excellent idea, carolyn, for the grandmothers (and grandfathers) to unite. If I could get over some of the grief, I’d already be working on my “plan” to “do something” this weekend … when I get there, I may throw in the Grandmother’s Rule. I spoke to my nearly two-year-old great grandson by phone today, and felt even more lucky than I usually do. I’m sure you’ll hug your grandson first chance you get!

JOB–I wondered if any organization has tried uniting grandmothers, besides the AARP, which is really about grandmothers concerns for themselves. I’ll bet there is a big and powerful group of grannies who will do anything for their grandkids and would respond to a message of support for gun control.

I think I just have found my leader….fellow Grandmama JOB…..when you get your plan, count me in….I’m a follower not a leader but a damn strong follower….Grandparents Against Gun Violence…GAGV..Grandparents Against Assult Weapons..GAAW….Grandparents For Safe Grandchildrens GSFG…something to rival NRA……come on people, let’s get fired up and ready to go….and I’ll bet Grandmama Robertson would join us…

People are always braver when they can hide behind a computer screen. Glad at least some apologized. And if it weren’t for those kinds of gun nuts there would not BE 20 precious little bodies or anyone to stand over.

The lovely Plains I’m sorry for snapping at you on the earlier thread when you posted the “Santa at WH” tweet. I shouldn’t have done that! You were right – it was a holiday event, not a protest. I was wrong.

No Worries hopefruit2, I was genuinely second guessing everything I posted after that. I need to thank edwina3 myslef for clarifying the event. I know everyone’s emotions are all over the place going back to Thursday w/ Susan Rice. I came to the conclusion people are grieving in different ways and on edge including myself, so I was really taken aback when you got upset. I hope you and everyone at TOD have a wonderful holiday season, and wish everyone has something to celebrate.

Thanks TLP for being so understanding. Indeed it’s a difficult time for everyone, but I should have taken the time to find out more before over- reacting. Have a blessed evening, and happy that you’re with us here on TOD!

Donated, thank you for the link. When I told my husband what I had done, he said “Good!”
It just keeps coming. Just heard on the news that a THREE year old got hold of a gun in his uncle’s house and shot himself in the head. How awful. Big question on the news was it his department gun or a private one. Doesn’t make a difference…..the child is gone. GUNS!!! The department spokesman tried to downplay the gun factor, by saying that all tools should be kept away from children….hammers, drills, etc. But it was a GUN!!!

I think donations are very important. They have been pouring in to the brady campaign since the shooting and this is the most prominent organization devoted to ending gun violence. I wish we could get some very big pocketed donors to support this organization. It will take time, but with money and push, maybe we can get organizational clout that will take on the NRA. The movement needs an organizational center to coordinate public education, ads, organizing activities. What that takes is money and staff. Millions of people contributing provide money. I have no idea what the NRA budget is, but if there are enough people willing, we could take them on. At this point, if it takes “buying” congresspeople, I’m willing to do that since they seem to have no moral center. I’m going to give what I can to this organization and encourage others to do so. How can we get the millionaires to back us?

aren’t most guns sold at gun shows and over the internet? a loophole around laws requiring background checks, etc. that has to stop.

anyone wishing to purchase a gun should be licensed in advance, and have to show at least as much identification as you do to vote in a red state to get that license, and then to buy a weapon.

to get a license, there should be a training program, like for driving a car, and a testing program, extensive background checks, and a waiting period. this will be expensive, and not be paid by taxpayers, or gun makers, or gun sellers, but rather by gun license applicants.

only guns legitimately needed for hunting food should be legal. any weapon designed to kill people should be illegal, except for law enforcement, state militia, etc.

All correct, Susanne. Twitter is rather constricting with 140 character limit, so I’ve been developing a stream of tweets that capture many of the key elements of sane control of weapons designed for ONLY one purpose – killing other people. And, for guns used primarily for hunting or sport shooting (targets, etc), all the steps you mention should be adhered.

Hearts and Minds must change. They must. We gotta raise our species out of this
particular piece of crap. There’s so much about us that’s brilliantly shining: yes.
And so let’s displace this piece of crap.

Africa – tear yourself away from the TV. It’s not healthy to saturate yourself with this sadness. Give yourself a chance to digest this tragedy and then take action via one of the many activist efforts going on, such as the Bradley Campaign mentioned above. Continuing to watch it makes it an ongoing event in your mind – a continuing tragedy. Sadly, it happened, and it’s over and nothing can change the fact that it happened. We need to look forward now to what can be done to prevent this happening again.

Most of us are aware of studies that show that having a firearm in the home increases rather than decreases your chance of violent injury or death — usually through accidents or suicide. I was not aware of this peer-reviewed 2009 study by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine study which concluded that people in possession of a gun were 4.5 times more likely to be shot during an assault than those who didn’t have a firearm.

How many children have to die, how many innocents have to be lost in a mall or a theater or on a neighborhood street, how many presidents or political leaders or prophets like Dr. King have to be shot down in a fusillade that wounds history itself, before America protects the first of our founding inalienable rights—to “life”—which surely comes before the “liberty” of carrying a cache of weapons. And that demands gun control—and I’m not using a politically convenient phrase like “gun safety legislation.” Some guns are outright unsafe—assault weapons—and all guns are unsafe in the hands of some people.

We as a society are hostage to the thugs of the NRA—which actually stands for the National Rampage Association.

Republicans who claim to defend the “right to life” profit politically by defending the moral wrong of a wholesale arsenal of death inflicted on the already living.

snip/

Let us resolve that half a century and more of this country as a killing field is more than enough. Let us refuse to let this day of dying fade into memory and the malaise of resignation to things as they are. Let us stand against the odds so that countless others who otherwise would never even know the cause of their slaying or the name of their executioner may instead live, laugh, and find love and not hate.

Today Barack Obama spoke his heart and the nation’s—and called on us to take “meaningful action regardless of the politics.” Maybe at last, this is the time; it must be the time. The massacre has come too many times.

Forewarned is forearmed: If anyone sends you an unsolicted direct message with a link claiming people are saying things about you on Facebook (or wherever) or claiming they see video of you doing naughty things on said place. DON’T click on the link!! Just delete the message. It’s an attempt at hacking your account and stealing your password.

I agree with you globalcitizenlinda! Here is what i posted on the other thread in response to the planned protest this evening at the White House:

“Why hold a direct-action protest at the White House? Is this another blame President Obama for the massacres? Why not hold the protest at the U.S. Supreme Court which has struck down local gun control laws, such as those of Washington, D.C.? Why not hold the protest at Capital Hill where the Congress refused to renew the ban on assault weapons? Why, of all places, are they not holding a massive direct action protest at the corporate headquarters of NRA, the principal organization championing uncontrolled gun ownership? I am sick and tired of fake progressives who expect the President to do everything. Instead of going out to mobilize and organize the grass-roots to convince the vast majority of Americans to support gun control legislation these protestors just want to be on T.V. throwing a tantrum at a President who pretty much supports the same cause.

I am as outraged as any one at the horror inflicted on those children and their teachers. The pain that their parents and loved ones are going through is truly beyond my comprehension although I’ve personally known the pain of loosing a child. But the fact that I am outraged should not be an excuse for me to attack the President, who, probably more than any one else, is shouldering the heavy burden of trying to bring comfort to the parents and relatives who lost loved ones and also to the whole country in shock.

To be honest, I am angry at those protesting at the White House. This should be a time for mourning and not protesting. I am sorry to say, but I regard this protest as pure grandstanding. This is using a horrific tragedy as an excuse to pile on the President. There is absolutely nothing President Obama could have done as President to prevent this “massacre.” ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! So what’s the purpose of protesting at the white House? I am sure the NRA, and those members of Congress who do its bidding, are happy to see the rage about what happened yesterday directed at the President who they are convinced is intent on confiscating all their guns.”

A father’s statement to the world on the loss of his young daughter:
“Thank you for all of your prayers and kind words of support. As we work through this nightmare, we’re reminded how much we’re loved and supported on this earth and by our Father in heaven. As much as she’s needed here and missed by her mother, brother and me, Ana beat us all to paradise. I love you sweetie girl.”

CBC News here in Canada showed a picture of her; she is a beautiful little girl(heart breaking), they lived here in Canada he taught at one of the Universities in Winnipeg, moved to NewTown 3 years ago.
JMO I don’t see the NRA surviving this once the all pictures of children are published.

Dudette, I am overwhelmed by the strength and grace of parents like Jimmy Greene. The song he named after his precious daughter, Ana Grace, reveals the depth of his love for her. Jimmy Greene and his family, as well as all the other families of the children and their teachers, are in my thoughts. I hope they all find strength to cope with this immense horror visited on them.

I didn’t know your name, I never saw your face,
I never got to see you smile, or get to watch you play.
I never got to walk with you or watch you board the bus,

I never got to kiss your head and tell you that you’re loved.

I never got to know you, we were worlds apart,
But on this tragic day, you’ve a place in my heart.
Your smile was robbed, your laughter stole away,
But it is upon angel’s wings, you rest your head today.

Take peace now, innocent one, worry not yourself,
For it is in the arms of a nation, your love can now be felt.
We may never understand the evil, which struck your life today,
But know that through remembrance, you’re never far away.

Now in peaceful rest, may you take, your place amongst the stars.
Your memory never forgotten, always safe, kept in our hearts.
It is with a solemn duty, to you we make this vow,
To find the evil you met today, And with vengeance strike it down.

~~To the memory of all 27 of the innocent lives lost today at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, with special dedication to the children. A nation mourns your loss today, our thoughts a prayers to your families and your community. May you all rest in peace.
Unknown

Chips… So much you do… Weeping here, in Danbury, CT. And I should have wept for Aurora, and Gabby Giffords, and the Sikh temple, and all the others… I was sad. but I didn’t weep. And when our weeping is over, we must gather our rage and work to CHANGE THIS BULLSHIT. If we don’t, we’ll be singing this song forever.

Condolences to you gatodicima and your Danbury neighbors. I have family in Fairfield County and they tell me that the while the malls are packed today (biggest shopping weekend before Christmas), the mood is more subdued than normal.

Yesterday, the news of this horrible event in Newtown made me recall that one of my co-workers occassionally helps out his father-in-law at a gunshow. I know it is not fair to him to ascribe that tragedy to his actions but I could not help myself – I just kept giving him a dirty look every time I saw him. I refrained from talking about the events with him because I did not trust my mouth not to say something hurtful

I really don’t understand why so many otherwise intelligent people (people I actually know) honestly think tighter gun control would not have prevented, or at the very least, lessened this tragedy. Someone please explain this to me.

As I tried to distract myself with chores today, I was thinking of ways we can organize against gun terror. because that’s what it is–terror. I was in elementary school in the 50’s when kids were made to feel terrified of the atom bomb. We had our bomb drills where we hid under our desks and covered our heads or lined up in the hallways, knelt and covered our heads, as if any of that would defend us form an atomic bomb. What it did do was create the constant anxiety that we were never safe and I remember having bad dreams about being fried in our beds if a bomb were to come at night and didn’t have time to kneel and cover our heads. Children today will grow up with the fear of being shot to oblivion for no rhyme or reason, that some madman will appear out of nowhere and suddenly destroy their world and lives. The is the horror that every child in the US must deal with now on an everyday basis– the dread that something will happen to them and the teachers they love and that no one–not parents, not teachers, not principals, not policemen, not safety drills, can protect them. We don”t have the option to do nothing in the face of this terror. If it’s the last thing any of us do, we have to save our children.

I there’s one thing we’ve learned from President Obama, it’s that we’re far more powerful than we think we are. He taught us the value of organizing, the value of bypassing all intermediaries, i.e., main stream media, and talking directly to each other. He told us that when people laugh at us and tell us we can’t do something, we have to say, Yes, We Can, and mean it and keep working at it. He laid out the roadmap for us and I think we need to dust it off and follow it. All of us were part of teams, whether neighborhood, precinct, or regional and I say, reactivate them. Call your fellow team members, arrange a meeting time and build your forces for neighbor to neighbor contact. Start making noises in your local papers or on local talk shows. Don’t get discouraged by criticism, keep on plugging. Donate everything you can to the Brady campaign and urge them to start thinking and acting big because the battles are just starting and they’re going to be fierce.
Make sure every candidate who runs for any office from school board (especially) to mayor to state rep to US House to Senate knows that you’re going to be looking at and assessing their attitudes toward gun violence. Make them feel that there will be hell to pay at the voting booth if they don’t join the fight to protect our children. PBO taught us what to do and we just pulled off one of the most successful presidential campaigns in history. We’ve got the skills. Let’s use them.

“Make sure every candidate who runs for any office from school board (especially) to mayor to state rep to US House to Senate knows that you’re going to be looking at and assessing their attitudes toward gun violence. Make them feel that there will be hell to pay at the voting booth if they don’t join the fight to protect our children. PBO taught us what to do and we just pulled off one of the most successful presidential campaigns in history. We’ve got the skills. Let’s use them.”

jackie – two things popped out at me, in particular, although everything you wrote was meaningful. First, “gun terror” – perfect way to express what’s happening. Second, I also was in grade school in the ’50s and remember the atom bomb drills where we’d have to seek cover under our wooden desks. And I remember all of the talk about the Communists’ taking over our country, and would have vivid dreams that the “dirty rotten Commies” (as everybody called them) were coming down my street to take away my family. I mentioned that to my son once (he’s 43), and he said his generation then went on to fear nuclear attack. Today’s poor children are fearing being shot in school, perhaps by someone in their community. Gettin’ closer to home, America. It’s all unfathomable that it’s always the children who suffer the most for the idiocy of the “grown-ups.”

Jackie, Thank you so much for this thoughtful statement which is also a powerful call to action. I wish people who are protesting at the White House would read you post. Yes, it’s we the people, united, who have the power and the capacity to bring about change to end this “gun terror.” It’s also through mobilization that genuine leaders, beholden to us and not to the NRA gun lobby, will emerge.

This is Victoria Soto. Victoria was only 27. She was killed today after she hid her first graders in closets and cabinets and told the shooter they were in the gym. He killed her and not one of her children were harmed. God bless Victoria, her family and friends and all of those who were involved today in anyway. Victoria is a true hero!!

What an incredible human being! What an incredible teacher! I am just overwhelmed by her courage and caring. My deep condolences to her family and all the families who lost loved ones during this horrific act of terror. I also hope, Bill, that most Americans will heed your advice to take a moment and really see who the teachers really are. They are not the caricatures that right wingers have been portraying them as in order to attack them. Victoria Soto, just only 27 years old, was tasked with more dangerous responsibilities than those faced by these pompous right wing governors, state legislators, and members of Congress, who are always attacking teachers.

May Victoria, her colleagues, and all the precious children, taken from us prematurely, live in eternal peace! Victoria Soto deserves a memorial for her heroism in saving the children in her class. She certainly taught me the real meaning of love and caring, and, above all, the true meaning of courage. These are the qualities that are truly lacking from all those politicians who are under the grip of the NRA.

Thank you for the love you share through this informative, compassionate, fair minded site. I discovered your wonderful oasis in 2009 and have visited often, content to listen, hearing my own views reflected and rarely needing to comment. Not a lurker, but a silent admirer. 🙂

I have eliminated the toxicity of mainstream TV/cable news from my home so your site has become a primary source for current events concerning President Barack Obama and now the nation. Thank you for the uplifting thoughts, words, visuals! Your TOD family is diverse, eclectic, awesome, intelligent, reasoned, loving, and committed to raising the truth about Barack. This family gathering place is much appreciated!

In the aftermath of the horrific shootings of schoolchildren, I came to TOD first to hear the comments of our President. I stayed to read almost every comment and link posted and just when I needed a glimmer of hope, Rita sends an infusion of positive vibrations with the link to the inspiring video Moments-that-restored-our-faith-in-humanity-this-year. So wonderful! Your latest video is masterfully poignant and hopeful. You’re right, it is time for a new song.

We have been blessed to raise three sons to adulthood, with our youngest a freshman at WCU in the mountains of NC, our middle son, a senior at UNC Carolina and our oldest a graduate of NC State University and recent resident of Brooklyn NYC. I have been in many classrooms volunteering during their school-lage years and feel a deep affinity for teachers and students.

CTV news(Canada) just reported here that the NRA took down their Facebook page and close their twitter account because they were being flooded with criticism. Sorry I am not on twitter so I don’t know if this is true.

I searched them on Facebook and their page came up in listings but when you click on it, it redirected to an informational page about them that doesnt look like their actual page. Not sure what that means exactly, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they did yank the pages.

Thanks Bobfr, when I heard this on the news I thought of you and all the TODwarriors here and all your hard work…IMO one small victory at a time. I got the impression from the news report that the NRA are locked in a PR nightmare and have no response for this not this time. The World is looking.

Very happy to hear that they can’t handle the amount of tweets and facebook comments. I’m sure the majority are sending dagger comments their way. This will be the first step to running these assholes into the ground and changing gun laws.

If it’s true for both the NRA’s FB page and Twitter account, and because I wish to retain some of my optimism, maybe it’s a small indicator. It would be quite nice to see Grover Norquist’s influence over the Republicans in Congress and, at the same time, the NRA’s purchase of their souls, both meet the same fate, because of the horrible consequences they have brought to our country.

According to the timeline, CNN has reported that the shooting took place in around 2 mins. The bulk of the shooting was over within 2 mins. That is how fast these guns can kill 26 people by just one person.

And why ‘if only more people had guns this wouldn’t have happened’ is bogus. It’s likely the gunman took the teacher out first and by the time anyone could’ve gotten there to stop it, all the kids would’ve been dead anyway.

The American Right is fond of putting itself inside the minds of America’s Founders and intuiting what was their “original intent” in writing the U.S. Constitution and its early additions, like the Second Amendment’s “right to bear arms.” But, surely, James Madison and the others weren’t envisioning people with modern weapons mowing down children in a movie theater or a shopping mall or now a kindergarten.

Indeed, when the Second Amendment was passed in the First Congress as part of the Bill of Rights, firearms were single-shot mechanisms that took time to load and reload. It was also clear that Madison and the others viewed the “right to bear arms” in the context of “a well-regulated militia” to defend communities from massacres, not as a means to enable such massacres.

The Second Amendment reads: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Thus, the point of the Second Amendment is to ensure “security,” not undermine it.

The massacre of 20 children in Newtown, Connecticut, on Friday, which followed other gun massacres in towns and cities across the country, represents the opposite of “security.” And it is time that Americans of all political persuasions recognize that protecting this kind of mass killing was not what the Founders had in mind.

Bobfr, you definitely deserve the rest. Thank you so much for your steadfast pursuit of TRUTH. Thank you also for your proposed practical and specific changes that will, if enacted, diminish the recurrence of horrific terror acts, like the one that took place yesterday in Newtown, CT. Your tweets and commentaries are always focused and filled with wisdom.

‘Organizers said both locations saw crowds twice as large as expected. In East Oakland, a mile-long line of cars waited on 82nd Avenue to enter a parking lot at St. Benedict’s Church, with some running out of gas while idling. In San Francisco, people stood in pouring rain outside the Omega Boys Club in the Dogpatch neighborhood to exchange their guns for cash.

By the end of the day, organizers expected more than 600 guns to be turned in.’

sidestep the entire gun control controversy and instead pass state laws that require anyone who owns a gun to carry insurance. If they have risk factors (like teenagers in the house), their rates go up. If one of their kids sneaks a gun out of the house and gets caught, or uses it to commit a crime, the insurance gets canceled for some meaningful period of time — say, 10 years.

And if someone steals your gun and you don’t report it in a 24-hour window of you finding out, your insurance is suspended for a long time.

If you have a rifle and it’s only used for hunting, low rates. If you have a Glock and you carry it in an open-carry town or state, your rates will be very high — because odds are so much higher that innocent bystanders may get caught in a shootout.

The more training and safety classes you take, the cheaper the premium.

If you’ve ever been convicted of domestic abuse or are the target of a protection order, you are not eligible for insurance.

Homeowners could be required to carry gun insurance as long as they’re still paying on a mortgage, because a gun accident or misuse could result in a large legal judgment against the house.

df – I’d like to thank you and Bobfr for being so proactive with ideas to stop the killing – it will be a long road – but for too long it has gone in the “too hard” basket. As an outsider I can do little other than add a few ideas – and I know Australia has a much smaller population – but we did get rid of the guns. I think all the ideas from you and Bob have been good – it is going to be a grass roots effort – but everyone knows how that works with 2 amazing election campaigns. If this was Bush time – no-one would even consider trying. The world loves PBO.

Reality hit Australia when the man who lost his 2 children (I think aged 6 & 3) to a gunman refused to back down from fighting the guns. I think you will find the parents of the children who died yesterday will not give up the fight as easily as others have done in the past. They will need the will to keep living & perhaps this will come from being focused on saving other children.

My thoughts are – fight to get rid of the automatic/semi automatic weapons – they HAVE to go; make it compulsory to buy guns in person – provide ID – get checked and have all guns registered; allow NO advertising – print or other media – NONE. Treat guns like tobacco – maybe legal – but also lethal, Allow people to sue gun owners, gun makers. Repeal the 2nd amendment.

Long, long path – but if it will save the children, grandchildren – or even my great grandchildren – worth it.

second. bobfr and amk are energetically, strategically, and determinedly condensing our complex musings into scintillating tweets that hit the target audience, are retweeted and repeated, and ultimately become common wisdom within the broader conversation. their work is epic and awesome and we are grateful.

Change.org has a petition to sign that asks Ron Barber to address gun issues in Congress. He has special interest in this, since he was shot at Gabby Giffords town hall in Tucson. Please go to Change.org and sign this petition.

So no-one in the GOP wants to explain why the second amendment is more important than a child’s right to life. I wonder where all those “pro-life” people are in this discussion. They are such cowards – they will not change the law, but refuse to discuss what sadness that refusal causes every single week.

And Michael Bloomberg will not mention the NRA, he never does. But, he immediately gies after the President without declaring exactly what he should do, just that he should do something.
It’s an easy target his advisers have told him, anytime a shooting happens get on tv, Blame POTUS don’t be specific. Check.
He is an asshole.
He should go after the NRA, the Republicans in Congress, name some People in Congress who should lead, tell us exactly what bill should be proposed and what Bloomberg can do about it.
Everything else is a personal vendetta against the President. And it shows.